Working with us to create your financial plan helps you identify your long and short term life goals. When you have a plan, it’s easier to make decisions that align with your goals. We outline 8 key areas of financial planning:

Income: learn to manage your income effectively through planning

Cash Flow: monitoring your cash flow, will help you keep more of your cash

Understanding: understanding provides you an effective way to make financial decisions that align with your goals

Family Security: having proper coverage will provide peace of mind for your family

Investment: proper planning guides you in choosing the investments that fit your goals

Assets: learn the true value of your assets. (Assets – Liabilities)

Savings: life happens, it’s important to have access to an emergency fund

Review: reviewing on a regular basis is important to make sure your plan continues to meet your goal

You most likely do, but the more important question is, ‘What kind?’ Whether you’re a young professional starting out, a devoted parent or a successful CEO, securing a life insurance policy is probably one of the most important decisions you will have to make in your adult life. Most people would agree that having financial safety nets in place is a good way to make sure that your loved ones will be taken care of when you pass away. Insurance can also help support your financial obligations and even take care of your estate liabilities. The tricky part, however, is figuring out what kind of life insurance best suits your goals and needs. This quick guide will help you decide what life insurance policy is best for you, depending on who needs to benefit from it and how long you’ll need it.

Permanent or Term?

Life insurance can be classified into two principal types: permanent or term. Both have different strengths and weaknesses, depending on what you aim to achieve with your life insurance policy.

Term life insurance provides death benefits for a limited amount of time, usually for a fixed number of years. Let’s say you get a 30-year term. This means you’ll only pay for each year of those 30 years. If you die before the 30-year period, then your beneficiaries shall receive the death benefits they are entitled to. After the period, the insurance shall expire. You will no longer need to pay premiums, and your beneficiaries will no longer be entitled to any benefits.

Term life insurance is right for you if you are:

The family breadwinner. Death benefits will replace your income for the years that you will have been working, in order to support your family’s needs.

A stay-at-home parent. You can set your insurance policy term to cover the years that your child will need financial support, especially for things that you would normally provide as a stay-at-home parent, such as childcare services.

A divorced parent. Insurance can cover the cost of child support, and the term can be set depending on how long you need to make support payments.

A mortgagor. If you are a homeowner with a mortgage, you can set up your term insurance to cover the years that you have to make payments. This way, your family won’t have to worry about losing their home.

A debtor with a co-signed debt. If you have credit card debt or student loans, a term life insurance policy can cover your debt payments. The term can be set to run for the duration of the payments.

A business owner. If you’re a business owner, you may need either a term or permanent life insurance, depending on your needs. If you’re primarily concerned with paying off business debts, then a term life insurance may be your best option.

Unlike term life insurance, a permanent life insurance does not expire. This means that your beneficiaries can receive death benefits no matter when you die. Aside from death benefits, a permanent life insurance policy can also double as a savings plan. A certain portion of your premiums can build cash value, which you may “withdraw” or borrow for future needs. You can do well with a permanent life insurance policy if you:

…Have a special needs child. As a special needs child will most likely need support for health care and other expenses even as they enter adulthood. Your permanent life insurance can provide them with death benefits any time within their lifetime.

…Want to leave something for your loved ones. Regardless of your net worth, permanent life insurance will make sure that your beneficiaries receive what they are entitled to. If you have a high net worth, permanent life insurance can take care of estate taxes. Otherwise, they will still get even a small inheritance through death benefits.

…Want to make sure that your funeral expenses are covered. Final expense insurance can provide coverage for funeral expenses for smaller premiums.

…Have maximized your retirement plans. As permanent life insurance may also come with a savings component, this can also be used to help you out during retirement.

…Own a business. As mentioned earlier, business owners may need either permanent or term, depending on their needs.

A permanent insurance policy can help pay off estate taxes, so that the successors can inherit the business worry-free. Different people have different financial needs, so there is no one-sized-fits-all approach to choosing the right insurance policy for you. Talk to us now, and find out how a permanent or term life insurance can best give you security and peace of mind.

Working with us to create your financial plan helps you identify your long and short term life goals. When you have a plan, it’s easier to make decisions that align with your goals. We outline 8 key areas of financial planning:

Income: learn to manage your income effectively through planning

Cash Flow: monitoring your cash flow, will help you keep more of your cash

Understanding: understanding provides you an effective way to make financial decisions that align with your goals

Family Security: having proper coverage will provide peace of mind for your family

Investment: proper planning guides you in choosing the investments that fit your goals

Assets: learn the true value of your assets. (Assets – Liabilities)

Savings: life happens, it’s important to have access to an emergency fund

Review: reviewing on a regular basis is important to make sure your plan continues to meet your goal

For most of the people, a watertight estate planning means finding the best ways to equip themselves for contingencies, reduce the tax liability for their estate, and signing up for investment plans to ensure that their money continues to earn money for them. Undeniably, the components mentioned above underlie at the core of estate planning. However, there are a couple of crucial aspects at the periphery; which, when addressed effectively will provide a layer of protection to your estate planning. Unfortunately, most of the times they either get ignored or else are dealt rather inefficiently.
Here are the four key components that will fortify your estate planning:

Make a Will

You never know what tomorrow has in store for you. Therefore, irrespective of your age get a will done first thing first. A survey done by CIBC last year revealed that almost 50% of Canadians do not have a will. It’s a fact that shouts out widespread ignorance prevailing in the arena of estate planning concerning the significance of making a will. Another prominent rationale behind creating a will is that if the deceased one leaves no will behind him/her, the government becomes the ultimate authority to decide how the execution of the estate will take place. In such a scenario, the chances are that your assets never reaches your loved ones for whom you had created it and may go to the wrong people indeed. Creating a will is one of the most emotional decisions of your life. However, they come out best when approached pragmatically. Take some time out of your busy schedule to safeguard the interest of your people.

Reassess your estate plan when encountered with a sudden life event

Life is a zigzag graph and never a straight line. Major occurrences might just come across you path in the most unexpected ways and at the most unanticipated times. It could be marriage or divorce. It could be the second marriage. Or else, it could be a sudden financial upheaval or abrupt gains. In such a situation, never forget to reassess your estate plan and make the necessary adjustments that suit your existing situation best. Otherwise also, doing a periodic reassessment of your estate plan keeps you future-ready.

Share your estate plan

Talk about your estate plan to your loved ones. Share the details of your estate planning with your family. Agreed that managing expectations of one and all and gratifying every member’s desire is a task, which is so hard to accomplish that it never happens. Still, let your kin sneak a peek into your estate planning. You can always reason with your family about your decision and your motive behind it. Besides, they also get a chance to present their opinion to you about your verdict when you are still alive and eating dinner with them.

While planning your estate rather choose your heart than the brains

However, in your quest to create a mastermind estate plan, do not lose your focus. So many times just to save on paying taxes; you may end up taking decisions that may make you regret later. Let your heart rule when it comes to matters of succession and transfer of your estate.

BC Finance Minister Carole James delivered the province’s 2017 budget update on Sept. 11, 2017. The budget anticipates a surplus of $46 million for the current year, $228 million in 2018-2019 and $257 million in 2019-2020. As a result of the provincial election on April 11, 2017, the measures previously announced were not fully enacted.

Here’s the new budget proposals:

Corporate Income Tax Measures

Effective January 1, 2018, there will be an increase to the general corporate income tax rate from 11% to 12%.

Personal Income Tax Measures

Effective for 2017, there is an introduction of a new top personal tax bracket set at $150,000 for 2018. Taxable income exceeding $150,000 will be taxed at 16.8%.

Post-secondary education can be expensive, however having the opportunity to plan for it helps with making sure that you’re capable to meet the costs of education. In addition, when you have a plan, it’s easer to make financial decisions that align with your goals and provide peace of mind. In the infographic, we outline 7 sources of funds for paying for post-secondary education:

At some point, you’re going to need help doing basic daily activities you may take for granted. Even if it seems like a distant reality, the day you’ll need long term health care will eventually arrive, and you better start planning for it now.

Here are 4 things you need to know.

1. It is inevitable. Seven out of ten people older than 65 will need custodial care in doing their day-to-day tasks, according to recent statistics. Long-term care becomes necessary when a person needs help with at least two basic tasks such as eating or taking a bath.

2. It can be expensive. A lot of people take for granted the need to plan their long term care expenses, believing that this will be taken care of by the government. This, however, is not always true. Living in a semi-private nursing home may cost you around $73,000 each year, according to 2012 data. For private nursing homes, it may go up to around $81,000. These prices will most likely increase in the near future.

3. Preparing for it is best thing you can do for yourself before you retire. Through a long-term health care insurance policy, you can start preparing for the kind of long-term care you will need, depending on your needs and lifestyle. Aside from getting your other retirement benefits in order, an insurance plan that includes assisted care after retirement means less worries in the future. Think of it as an investment for your own peace of mind, as well as your loved ones’.

4. There is no better time to start than NOW. The sooner you start, the more you can maximize a long-term care insurance policy. The premiums you pay will depend on a few factors:

How old you are

Your current health status

How long you think you’ll need coverage

How much you want to protect yourself from inflation.

With inflation protection, the value of your benefits can even increase over time. With a 5-percent inflation protection in place, for example, the value of your insurance benefits will increase by 5 percent as well.

While your family may be there to also support your needs, it is important to think about how you’ll live the rest of your years after without breaking the bank or financially burdening loved ones. Think about how old you think you’ll be when you need assisted care, or what financial safety nets you have in place in case of disability.

Talk to us, and find out what long-term health care insurance benefits will best suit your plans and needs.

As our lives grow and change with variable circumstances, new additions, and job transitions, our needs for insurance will also evolve. Additionally, economic fluctuations and external circumstances that influence your insurance policy will need frequent re-evaluation to ensure that you are making the most appropriate and financially favorable decisions. Perhaps you aren’t sure whether you should conduct an insurance audit or not. The following scenarios are usually a good indication that you should thoroughly assess and review your current policy contract:

Bringing new life into your family? A new baby may not only prompt you to adjust your beneficiary information, but it is likely to change or influence your coverage needs.

Changing jobs? Probationary periods may not provide the same level of disability or accident insurance.

Is your policy nearing the end of its term? Be sure to compare prices for new policies as they can sometimes be more affordable as compared to renewing the current plan.

The specific type of insurance policy you carry as well as personal details certainly influence coverage and premium prices, so if any of the following factors apply to you, be sure to update your policy accordingly. You might be eligible for a rate reduction.

If you have experienced improvements to a previously diagnosed health condition.

Do your policy’s investment options still fall in line with current market conditions?

Have you used your insurance policy as collateral for a loan? Once that loan is paid off, collateral status should be taken off the policy.

Insurance policies generated for business purposes should also be regularly reviewed to make sure the policy still offers adequate coverage to meet the needs of the company and includes the appropriate beneficiary information. With life happening so quickly, it can be easy to forget about keeping insurance policies up to date, however, major changes can have a profound impact on coverage and premiums. Be sure to conduct insurance audits often to ensure your policies are still meeting your needs.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered the government’s 2017 federal budget on March 22, 2017. The budget expects a deficit of $23 billion for fiscal 2016-2017 and forecasts a deficit of $28.5 billion for 2017-2018. Find out what this means for families.

Key points for families

Childcare: The funding could serve to create more affordable childcare spaces for low-income families

Parental leave: Extending parental leave and benefits to 18 months, Parents who choose to stay at home longer, however, will have to make do with a lower Employment Insurance (EI) benefit rate of 33 per cent of their average weekly earnings, instead of the current rate of 55 per cent

Caregiver benefit: Introduce a new caregiver benefit that’s meant to help families copy with illnesses and injuries.

Parents who go to school: Single, higher federal income threshold for part-time students to receive Canada Student Grants. Grants don’t have to be repaid.

Foreign Nannies: Waiving a $1,000 processing fee required to obtain a work permit.

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About Us

Dave looks at all aspects of a client’s financial circumstances. This can range from debt reduction, disability, health and life insurance needs to specific goal planning, such as educational savings (RESPs), retirement planning and of course investment planning and asset allocation.